Recently Announced Namibia’s Unemployment Rate at 27% is Flaw, the Real Unemployment Rate is 54%

I’m an Economist, specialized in Macroeconomics, Econometrics, Predictive Analysis, and Economic Development. I obtained my BSc in Economics from The Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio USA, and I’m currently studying for my PhD in Economics.

The Namibian Statistics Agency recently announced that the unemployment rate in Namibia now stands at 27.4%, which is a whopping drop from the 2008’s estimate unemployment rate of 51%.

First of all, this is impractical for an unemployment rate of any economy anywhere in the world to drop by 23.6% within about 4 years without an economy experiencing a major rapid shock (boost or drop), especially since Namibia’s economic growth has been linear over the years with an average steady growth of about 4%.

In short, unless the Namibia Statistics Agency (NSA) has included those Namibian workers who earn less than N$800 a month, who cannot be and should never be counted as employed since their wages cannot meet their daily living cost, and unless the NSA has included those who have given up looking for work due to the fact that they may have perhaps setup their own shebeens, street-corner makeshift tents to sell candies, and Kapana, who cannot and should never be included as employed due to the fact that their earnings cannot even afford them to pay for their living costs.

Hence, the unemployment rate recently released by NSA is wrong, flaw, and very inaccurate. The real unemployment rate in Namibia is more than 54%.